Temptation
by lovematters
Summary: Life couldn't get any worse for Sakura. First, she was manipulated into going to a ‘formal function’, then, she was forced into one of the most ridiculous dresses she had ever seen, and then, HE shows up, wanting to tango. Oh yes, Sakura had it bad.
1. Objection Tango

**AN: Second story! YAY! Just so you know Sakura is 18 in this story. Just in case you wanted to know her age. Anyway I hope you like it!**

* * *

_Hard work never killed anyone, but why risk it?_

_

* * *

_

Objection Tango

Sometimes, it shocked Sakura just her persuasive her loud mouthed blond sensei could be. She just didn't understand how it was that Tsunade had managed to persuade her to, first, come to this stupid ball _in her place, _and_ then_ somehow forced her into this _ridiculous_ dress.

She thought it was pretty safe to say she had never worn anything so revealing in her entire _life,_ and, after the downright appalling amount of unwanted attention she had been receiving from boys of all ages since she had stuck one stilettoed foot into the ballroom, Sakura swore to Kami that she never would again.

Sakura glared at her faint reflection in the large French window, folding her arms over her chest in a feeble attempt to cover up the rather voluminous amount of cleavage on show. Had she been in a better frame of mind, Sakura would have agreed with the large amount of men shamelessly gawking at her; the silky, jade green, floor length dress did look stunning on her. The sheer material clung to her slender hourglass form, accentuating all her curves, and the split that retreated a little bit too far up her thigh for her own comfort showed off one of her long, slender, smooth legs in a way that made Sakura feel as if she had raided Ino's closet.

She let out an irritated huff and shot one last cross look at her reflection, before turning back to stare apathetically at the throng of dancers in the middle of the floor. She was just itching to reach into her purse and retrieve that nail file.

But no, she just had to wait for the next perverted old man who wanted discuss an alliance with Kohona, whilst attempting to stare down her cleavage, or the next young man who had claimed to have fallen madly in love with her, to waltz casually by. Oh how she detested her lazy sensei right now.

"Having fun?"

Sakura spun around, swinging one delicate hand in the direction of the voice, which had seemed a little too close to her back than Sakura deemed publically acceptable.

It was only when Sakura's hand was trapped in a much larger, rougher one and Sakura saw who exactly was the owner of that deep, silky, irritatingly sexy voice that she felt her evening had just gotten infinitely worse.

"You!" she hissed furiously "I thought I killed you!"

The handsome face of Akasuna no Sasori smirked down at her, using his height advantage to tower over her smugly.

"What a charming welcome back," he said, continuing on in that same infuriatingly attractive tone.

All sorts of alarm bells began to ring in Sakura's head as she stared wrathfully up at the man in front of her. These doubled painfully in volume as Sakura realised the tight grip he had on her hand.

"Let go of me!" she snapped, tugging violently at her hand. He simply chuckled at her actions, his eyes alight with... something.

"You do realise," ranted Sakura, still fruitlessly trying to remove her hand from Sasori's vice-like grip "that there are about fifty ANBU outside."

"I know," he said nonchalantly.

"And when I tell them all that you're here-"

"I'll be long gone," he said complacently.

It was just then that the Sakura realised that his hand, which was now close to crushing her own, felt very much like skin. Not wood. Skin.

She grabbed it with her free hand, pulling it towards her face. She narrowed her eyes as she scrutinised it, poking it experimentally. It definitely felt like skin.

"I thought you were a puppet," she said sharply, giving up on her efforts to retrieve her hand, letting it hang defeated in Sasori's.

"And I would still be one if it weren't for you," he said tantalisingly. Sakura scowled up at him, pushing aside the overwhelming desire to kick him in the shin.

"So what are you here for then? To kill me?" she said sarcastically.

"Now why would I want to do that?" he said innocently. As if Akasuna no Sasori could ever be innocent.

"Then why are you here?" she snapped "Don't you realise someone could recognise you?"

"Worried, sweatheart?" he asked, smirking iritatingly at her.

Sakura puffed up angrily and said furiously "Tell me what you want now or I'll scream for the guards!"

He sighed dramatically, looking up at the ceiling. "Dance with me."

"Exscuse me?" she asked incredulously.

"Dance with me."

"Absolutely not!"

"What's the matter? Afraid?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, tempted to slap him clean around the face for his ridiculous offer.

"I hate you," she snapped irately.

"Shame," he chuckled "But that can always be rectified, can't it?"

With his free hand he grabbed her waist, spinning her out into the dancefloor. Sakura let out a little yelp as she was pulled forcefully into Sasori's chest, the side of her face resting against his muscular upper torso. Turning slightly pink at this, she jerked back and said crossly "You did that on purpose!"

"Of course I did, blossom," he teased.

"Asshole"

Brushing aside her little remark, Sasori asked "You know how to tango?"

"Tango!?" hissed Sakura, reddeneing slightly. Akasuna no Sasori, the man who she had supposedly killed, the notorious S-class criminal, wanted to _Tango_ with _her_. It had to be a nightmare.

"You don't?" he asked disapointedly.

Looking back, Sakura knew that she probably she hould have lied flat off her face and told him that no, she did not know how to Tango, and no, she had not been enrolled in dance classes by her mother when she was five. Honesty was a trait to be hidden when dealing with pshcotic S-class criminals.

Even so, just because she could dance, it didn't mean she would.

"Not up for a little challenge then?" he goaded.

"Shut up and remove your hand from my waist," she retorted.

"No, it's quite comfortble there," he taunted.

Sakura spluttered indignantly at this. He was worse than Jiryara. Next thing she knew he'd get out an Icha Icha paradise and ask if she wanted to curl up on a sofa and read it with him.

"Oh for Kami's sake," she snapped suddenly "Look, if I just dance with you, will you leave me alone?"

"I knew I could change your mind," he said smugly, pulling Sakura a little bit closer to him.

Sakura leaned her entire body forward, her back elegantly arched, and wrapped one pale arm around Sasori's neck, pulling herself as close to the red-head as she could. She supported herself with one leg as she gracefully lifted her slim, right leg and draped it off Sasori's side. The material around it fell away from the split in the dress, exposing nearly all of her upper thigh, and stopping just before she would have been chucked out of the hall for indecency. Smirking tantalisingly and freeing her hand of his death grip, Sasori placed his hand unerneath her thigh. Flexing it slightly, she wrapped it around his neck, locking it with the other arm.

"Do try to keep up, Sasori, darling," she purred in his ear, a hint of sarcasm dripping of her words.

"Don't worry, blossom, I will."

Sakura pushed back off him suddenly, just giving him time to catch her hand. He spun her around with inhumane speed, such that if Sakura had not had an excelent sense of balance, she would have no doubt broken her ankle. Especially in the stilletoes she was wearing.

Stopping abrubtly so that she was facing away from him, she swayed her hips ever so slightly, just to tease him. Smirking, she felt a tug on her hand , and, before she could even catch her breath, he expertly winded her into him with a small tug of his hand like she was a coiled spring, wrapping one arm around her when her back was against his chest, and then catching both of her hands in his 

strong grip. Leaning down towards her ear, he whispered "Did I mention that you look absolutely, breathtakingly spectacular tonight?"

Fighting the urge to shudder as his warm breath tickled her ear, she replied coldly "No, you didn't."

"Well then," he twisted her around so fast that she barely had time to blink, and before she knew it, he had dipped her backwards, her spine arching in a slight semi-circle.

All of a sudden, Sakura seemed to become vividly aware of just how very good looking he was and just how very close his face was to hers.

"I owe you an apology," he continued in a deep husky tone "I normally make it a habit to compliment a beautiful piece of artwork when I see one."

It took all of Sakura's self restraint not to blush at this comment. Perhaps it helped that she knew exactly what it was that he was doing. But then again, two could play at this game.

She pulled herself into him, and slid one of her thighs deliberately up his leg, so that it settled in its starting position and pressed her hands to his well muscled chest, running them down his torso slowly and puposely.

Smirking at her, he pulled her upright quickly and placed both of his hands on her waist. Before she even had time to comprehend that they were there, she felt herself being propelled into the air. She let out a surprised squeak as all sense of gravity abandoned her. Lifts were something that needed to be forseen by both parteners. She just had time to plan a reprimand for her cheeky dance partner beofre she landed bridal style in said patner's well toned arms.

"Sasori!" she snapped idignantly "What the hell was that for!? Put me down!"

"As you wish," he said, half dropping her and causing her to nearly tople over rather ungracefully.

As soon as Sakura regained her balance, Sakura nailed Sasori with an expressively clear 'don't you _ever_ do that again!' glare and growled, "I swear if you dare lift me again without warning, I _will_ kill-"

However her reprimand was cut short when he expertly steered her in into a difficult cross body manoeuvre and backward spin without much warning, and it was only her years of experience that kept her from falling flat on her face.

Sakura furiously muttered to herself as they began to move fluidly across the dancefloor. Without a second thought, she deliberately moved into a cruzara cross-over step, purposely grinding her heel into his foot in the tight footwork.

He let out a hiss of pain as she smirked at him and said smugly "payback."

As she heard the song beginning to draw to a close, she narrowed her eyes, wary of his every move. He was going to do something. She just knew it. He would want a grand finale.

As if on cue, he pulled away from her, still griping one of her hands and twirled her around with such speed that she could only see one big multi-coloured blur as object after object whizzed by.

He continued to spin her faster and faster as she heard the drums picking up speed, indicating the finale. Closing her eyes and trying to ignore the nausious feeling in her stomach, she concentrated on staying upright and keeping balance. He would love it if she fell over and she was not going to give him that satisfaction.

As the final few notes were hit, she felt him suddenly wrap an arm around her waist and pull her in and downwards, so that one leg was sticking up slightly in the air and she was staring up into Sasori's handsome face as he supported her back.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at him and said "are you finished?"

"Not with you, blossom," he replied, pulling her upwards gently and releasing her waist, but still keeping a firm grip on her hand, "But for now, I'll take my leave, because I know as soon as I let go of this pretty little hand of yours, you are going to run off and inform someone of my presence."

Sakura didn't bother to disagree. It would have been a lie and a waste of breath.

"So," he whispered, bringing his lips right next to her ear "I'll see you around."

He moved slightly away from her, but brought her hand up and brushed his lips over it. He shot her one last look, before disappearing before her eyes. She stared at the empty spot that he had just filled, and then looked down at her hand. The part that Sasori had just kissed felt like it was on fire. The nerves in her skin seemed to be having a party.

And then she remembered what she was obligated to do. Tell the ANBU. She sighed and turned around, walking over to the exit where they were posted. Now, how on earth was she supposed to tell them without mentioning the fact that she had spent the last couple of minutes dancing very inappropriately with him?

**AN: So how was that? My second story, which I may or may not turn into more than a one-shot, but that depends on its reception. So please review, and tell me whether you think I should carry this on as full blown story or just leave it as it is. **

**Oh and remember, please if you don't like it don't just criticise it by saying it was lame. Fair enough if you don't like it, but please tell me what you don't like about it and what I could improve on. I have no objection to constructive criticism. It's always welcome. Thanks for reading!**

**XXXXXX**


	2. Stealing his Sword

**AN: Ok, I know people have asked me to continue this, so here is the next chapter. I know some of you may be thinking "What on earth?!" by the end of this chapter, and thinking that none of it makes sense, but it will all fall into place, so please don't give up on me!**

* * *

_Never argue with an idiot- they'll bring you down to their level then beat you with experience_

* * *

_3 months later_

Sakura's ragged breath came out in short rasps as she clenched her fists, staring defiantly into the Snake Sannin's malicious eyes.

"Giving up, little girl?" Orochimaru hissed, a sadistic smirk adorning his features. Sasuke stood wordlessly beside him, watching the pink haired medic lazily as she narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Like hell I will," snarled Sakura, crouching into a defensive stance. She determinedly held Orochimaru's gaze, purposefully refusing to let any of her doubts show on her hardened façade. She wasn't twelve anymore. She wasn't weak, whatever this Sannin or Sasuke might say.

"Such fire," laughed Orochimaru "Such determination... She would make a fine Sound ninja, don't you think Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke remained silent, but instead ran his eyes deliberately up and down Sakura's slender, petite form. Fury bubbling over at this shameless action, Sakura threw a kunai swiftly at Sasuke's head. He caught it deftly and pocketed it, a look of faint interest appearing on his face.

"You bastard," she hissed furiously, glaring daggers at him.

Sasuke smirked slightly at this comment and said mockingly "What happened to Sasuke-kun?"

"He's dead to me," snapped Sakura, before turning her attention back to the Snake Sannin. Gathering up the last dregs of her courage, she charged head on at the two ninja.

Sasuke disappeared in a flash, however Orochimaru stayed put, drawing his sword quickly. Sakura, realising what he was about to do, drew a kunai quickly.

The sound of metal clashing onto metal seemed to reverberate around the crater, ringing through Sakura's eardrums. She clutched the kunai with both hands, shaking with the effort to hold the large sword up. A tiny weapon like her kunai was definitely not made for something like this.

"Smart girl," Orochimaru said "but how long can you last?"

He suddenly brought the sword up and disappeared. Sakura stayed very still, trying to sense any chakra, but to no avail. She had no idea where Sasuke had gone, but she had a feeling he was still in the crater.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she whipped around to see two kunai heading straight for her forehead. She caught then both in a flash and looked ahead of her to see Orochimaru standing astride... a huge snake. She was in trouble.

Not wasting any time, Sakura punched the ground with as much force as she could muster. The ground shook with the force of an earthquake, causing momentary confusion for both the snake and Orochimaru.

Sakura took advantage of this by charging though the smoke and flying rubble at the pair, her fist drawn back and gathering chakra. Orochimaru realised what she was about to do a split second before it happened and leapt high in the air. Unfortunately for him, however, he did not have time to save his snake.

The force of Sakura's punch sent the colossal beast flying backwards into the rocky walls of the cavernous crater, causing an avalanche of rock to cascade down. Sakura leapt backwards to avoid the tumbling rock, coughing slightly as she inhaled some of the cloud of dust.

As the smoke began to clear, the sight that met Sakura's eyes shocked even her. It looked like a bomb had been let off in the area. Huge boulders lay everywhere and on the opposite side of the cavern, a huge snake lay twitching under the enormous weight of rock covering it. It wouldn't be getting out of there anytime soon.

Orochimaru let out a furious hiss as he saw what had become of his snake. He had greatly underestimated this girl.

Sakura smirked at him as he turned to face her. She saw the slight shock etched on his face. As much as Sakura hated being assumed weak, it could come in handy sometimes.

He charged at her. Sakura just had time to note Sasuke standing a little way off, watching their fight, before she was locked in fierce hand to hand combat with him.

He was unbelievably fast, so much indeed that Sakura was having trouble blocking all of his attacks. She knew she had no chance of landing an attack, and that all she could do was block his swift, fierce movements. She needed some sort of plan. She couldn't hold him off forever, and she had no idea when Kakashi, Sai and Naruto were going to come.

And then she remembered Sasuke. Sasuke standing a little way off, with his sword.

And then it clicked.

She needed that sword.

Neither of them would be expecting her to try something that bold, that stupid, but if it worked...

She flipped backwards, subtly, almost accidentally, in Sasuke's direction. She was now close enough to make a break for it...

Orochimaru followed her quickly, once again engaging her in hand to hand combat. If she could just get her hands on that sword...

"Sakura!"

Sakura's concentration never faltered once as she heard Kakashi, Naruto and Sai sprinting towards them. Neither did Orochimaru's. However Sasuke...

_Do it now. While he's distracted._

Suddenly, Sakura leapt away from the fight and within a split second had both hands on Sasuke's sword.

What happened next occurred so quickly that no one had any time to react. The only thing the onlookers saw was Sakura standing in front of Orochimaru, gripping onto Sasuke's sword, which was thrust straight through Orochimaru's chest.

A dark, thick, black substance began to ooze out of the corner of Orochimaru's mouth. However, to Sakura's utmost confusion, he was smirking.

And then she felt it. The kunai that was shoved deep into her stomach.

Sakura gasped as the pain hit her, before looking up at Orochimaru in horror.

He was horribly pale and the disgusting black substance, which Sakura now identified as some sort of blood, was now dribbling down his chin. Orochimaru fell to his knees, causing the sword to be wrenched upwards in his gut.

Sakura stumbled backwards slightly, gripping onto Sasuke's sword for all it was worth. The throbbing pain inside her stomach seemed to double, forcing Sakura to bite down on her lip to prevent herself from crying out.

"Sakura!"

She heard the panicked voices of her team approaching ever closer. Orochimaru's ragged breath was quickly disappearing. She listened to its dying rhythm as the quick footsteps came closer.

Her eyes were going in and out of focus. As a medic, she knew her stomach wound was potentially fatal, but she didn't have time for herself now. Her priority was to finish off Orochimaru once and for all.

Shakily letting go of the sword, she dropped to her knees. The sound of his breathing had disappeared, but Sakura was no fool. He was not dead.

Her suspicions were confirmed when his body started to glow an eerie white. His soul was breaking free of its old container to attempt to take over a new container, and Sakura knew that there were some very good candidates in the immediate area. However much Sakura resented Sasuke, she would not let that fate become of him.

Pushing aside the excruciating pain, Sakura looked around quickly for some sort of object. And then her eyes landed on something. Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring. She grabbed his hand and pulled the ring off his lifeless finger. It would have to do.

She closed her eyes and pressed her hands together, the ring safely wedged between her hands.

_Soul Prison_

It took all of Sakura's self restraint not to cover her ears at the horrible, high pitched scream that followed her Jutsu. There was a blinding flash of light as the white aura surrounding Orochimaru's body engulfed her hands and disappeared.

Sakura opened her hands ever so slowly, staring at the glowing ring in her palm.

_Put it on_

Sakura blinked. She stared down at the ring in her hand in bewilderment. She felt a sudden overwhelming, uncontrollable pull to the object, as if it was magnetic.

_Put it on_

She shook her head, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her head. However, her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own.

She watched in horror as she picked up the ring and slowly, ever so slowly, slid the ring onto her outstretched fingers.

Suddenly, she felt a short, searing burn course throughout her entire body and then she saw blackness, nothing but blackness...

* * *

"I_s_ it worth it, though?"

Pein stared at his blue haired partner astutely, contemplating her words carefully. He leant back in his chair slightly, a pensive frown adorning his features.

"We could change our plans, find another way," she continued.

"The Kyuubi..." Pein said.

"-is near impossible to catch now," finished Konan "its container has grown much stronger, and is too well protected anyway."

Pein nodded contemplatively, absentmindedly interlocking his fingers on the table. He looked over at the cloaked figure sitting beside him and said "What do you think?"

"The ultimate goal of this organization was overall peace," the figure stated, in a harsh, masculine voice "However, I will not pretend that our hunt for the demons was entirely selfless. My point is, I think we have forgotten our ulterior motive, and it is time we return to that."

Pein nodded and asked "So do you have a plan?"

"We-"

Suddenly the figure paused, before looking sharply at Pein and Konan, who had both frozen.

"Did you feel that," he said quickly.

"The ring," breathed Konan, gripping her own.

"It's Void," muttered Pein "That must mean-"

"Orochimaru"

* * *

**AN: I know it was quite different from the last chapter and that must have been a bit of a shock, but I don't want this story to be solely about Sasori and Sakura's relationship (although don't worry- that's the main aspect!). I just don't want it to be clichéd, so please bear with me! Thanks for reading and please review! **

**Lovematters**

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

**P.S I changed the title because I this one fits the story better now it isn't a one shot.**


	3. Origami

**AN: Chapter three is up! And I've just realised I've completely forgot a disclaimer for the last two chapters. Oops. Well I'll do one at the end of this. Anyway soon, so I'm not sure how many chapters I'll be able to get in before then. It depends how fast I can write (good stuff). **

**Anyway I know you all want the SasoriXSakura action and I'm not going to promise anything. All I can say is that we all know that there is already a fair amount of sexual tension between the two, as seen in their little tango, but the actual romance will come later. It's just I don't want to rush it, because then it ends up messing everything up, but on the other hand I don't want to have it too late, because then you'll all just get bored waiting for it. So I guess you could say I'm waiting for the right time to strike. Muahahaha! Now I think we should make the happy couple do the disclaimer-**

**Sasori and Sakura- Happy couple?**

**Me-of course**

**Sasori- sighs- alright then**

**Sakura- shakes Sasori- You're agreeing to this- to this- Torture!?**

**Sasori- well it's not as if we have a choice. Besides, I don't mind... -smirks-**

**Sakura- PERVERT!!**

**Me- Just do the disclaimer!!**

**Sakura- Glares- Fine! Lovematters does not own Naruto, and I am very glad that she doesn't.**

**Me- What was that? -approaches menacingly with a mace in hand- **

**Sasori- Sad! She said she's sad! She's very sad that you don't own Naruto!**

**Me- puts mace down and looks smugly at a cowering Sakura who is hiding behind Sasori, who looks even more pleased with himself- **

* * *

Stress: A condition caused by repressing the body's desire to strangle the living daylights out of some jerk who desperately deserves it.

* * *

Sakura stared up at the ceiling, absentmindedly massaging her stomach. She winced every time she brushed over a sensitive spot, but continued her massage anyway. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.

The covers of her hospital bed were pushed back, revealing her loose hospital gown, which had been pushed up around her knees. She kicked back the covers a bit further with her feet, so a breath of air reached the rest of her body.

She had been stuck in the hospital for at least a week now, and Tsunade _still_ wouldn't let her leave. She swore loudly in a fit of irritation. It was always frightfully boring at night, and sometimes even at day as well.

It wasn't like she never had visitors. They had come by the hundred, although most of them had been mind-numbing elders wishing to congratulate her on her recent victory.

Naruto, Kakashi, Sai and Ino all visited whenever they could, occasionally bringing people such as Hinata or Kiba with them. Even Shikamaru would occasionally drop by for a game of Shogi. Hell, even Neji had dropped by, and for some odd reason, his uncle. No doubt, they were forming some diabolical plan, which she had unfortunately been dragged into. Knowing them, it would probably involve destiny and arranged marriage.

She rolled her eyes, ceasing her stomach massage. Pushing herself up with her elbows and swinging her legs around, she raised herself up off the bed into a standing position. Stretching her legs experimentally, she walked over to small window and leant down on its sill, staring up into the cloudless night.

Sighing, she absentmindedly twirled a lock of cerise hair around her finger. It had grown past its original length, now reaching the small of her back. This had purely been out of neglect to cut it, not vanity, but Sakura still liked it anyway. She normally had it in a long plait down her back, but now it was flowing freely, as Sakura didn't see the point of going to all that bother every day when she wouldn't even be training.

Catching sight of a glint of gray on her finger, she extracted it from the twirled strands of hair, and held it up to her face.

She started as she saw the object that had attracted her curiosity. The ring. How could she have forgotten?

She slid it off her finger and placed it in her palm, narrowing her eyes as she examined it carefully. She had been wearing this chunk of rock for a week, and she only just noticed?

She let out a little tinkling laugh, marvelling at her own lack of awareness.

Picking up the ring between her thumb and forefinger, she turned it over so that the kanji was visible.

_Void_

It was sort of fitting really, seeing as that was exactly what Orochimaru's soul was trapped in. Well, inside the ring, which would just be a wide expanse of nothing. She winced at the thought of spending eternity like that. But then again, that was really what Orochimaru had deserved- and wanted, she supposed. He had always desired immortality after all. And now he got exactly what he wished for.

She wondered briefly whether she ought to hand the object into Tsunade, but as soon as the thought appeared in her mind, it vanished. There was not really any need for that. When Tsunade had asked her where Orochimaru's soul was, she had just told her she sealed it. She didn't really have to specify where, and it was apparent that Tsunade didn't care.

Slipping it gently back onto her finger, she felt that same strange burn she had felt when she first put the ring on. Frowning, she stared down at the stone ring. There was something that just didn't really make sense. It was almost as though it was meddling with her mind, although Sakura was sure that wasn't it. If it was driving her to insanity, the symptoms would be different.

Sakura looked up suddenly as she felt something brush her forehead. Her sharp reflexes in play, she made a snatch for the object, her fingers closing around it. Opening her hand up, she frowned when she saw a mere slip of paper. She raised her eyebrows, picking it up and examining it in the same fashion that she had scrutinized the ring. Deeming it to be nothing more than a piece of paper, she gave it its emancipation, watching it flutter away in a strangely choreographed fashion, off into the night.

Checking her watch, Sakura started when she realised just how late it was. She looked over to her bed, deciding that it would probably be the sensible thing to at least try and get some sleep. If she was grouchy in the morning, she would be more likely to shout at any innocent visitors, and it wouldn't do to have her life supports scared away.

Yawning loudly, Sakura took one last look out the window, before trailing over to her bed and flopping down upon it.

Tsunade had promised her she would be able to go home tomorrow, but then again, she had been promising that all week, so she wasn't really expecting to depart anytime soon. But she could still hope...

* * *

"You've identified the killer?"

A curtain of silence fell over the room as the question was uttered. Nine pairs of eyes fixed themselves upon the newcomer, some filled with apprehension, others, newly found excitement.

The figure tossed her hat lazily to the side, and ran one hand through her dark blue locks, possessing a mild look of irritation about her.

"A 'hello and welcome back' would be nice," she snapped, lacing her fingers tightly together and shooting a glare at the occupants of the room.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

The blue haired woman gave an oddly feral-like snarl and stood up, snatching out in an attempt to throttle the offender, only to be pulled down by the man sitting next to her.

"Konan, calm down," he ordered, before turning his attention to the enquirer and sighing, "Hidan, must you always swear?"

Said silver haired man gave a snort of annoyance, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, looking rather like an insolent child who had just received a scolding. This caused the man seated next to him to snigger, earning him a very dirty look from his source of amusement.

"If you are quite finished...?" drawled the heavily pierced man next to Konan, drumming his fingers on the table in an annoyed fashion.

He smirked as the room fell silent again, before saying calmly "Konan, I believe you had news?"

"Yes, Pein" she said, taking a calming breath. "Yes, I do. I have identified Orochimaru's killer, and I have also discovered the whereabouts of the ring and its current possessor. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they are, as we expected, the same person."

"Who is it?"

"Haruno Sakura"

Pein's eyes widened slightly, before he said "Isn't that the one-"

"-who killed me," finished Sasori in a murmur, staring at Konan in a calculating gaze.

"Yes," Konan confirmed, retrieving a book from inside her Akatsuki cloak. "This is what I've managed to dig up on her."

She opened the book, and began to read, "Haruno Sakura: age- 18, rank-ANBU. Currently in Kohona's hospital receiving treatment from a serious stomach wound obtained in her fight with Orochimaru. She is on a team with the Kyuubi container, the copy ninja, and some root nin named Sai. Her sensei is Tsunade, although she has long surpassed her, and she is widely renowned as Kohona's best medic."

She snapped the book shut and looked up at the rest of the Akatsuki members, who looked slightly shell shocked.

"Fucking hell," muttered Hidan "No wonder the ring didn't reject her when she put it on."

Pein turned to Konan and said sharply "You're sure about this?"

"I did infiltrate Kohona's defences for this. Of course I'm sure," she snapped sourly. "There's more in the book, but that information is irrelevant for now."

"So we have our newest member," mused Pein, looking thoughtfully at Konan. "And she doesn't know?"

"She doesn't know anything about how the rings work," confirmed Konan "I'm sure of it."

"Good," he replied, a hint of satisfaction lining his voice.

"What are you planning," said Konan, narrowing her eyes suspiciously; "You're not going to kill her, are you?"

"Quite the contrary," disagreed Pein "You say she is on the Kyuubi's team?"

"Yes," said Konan.

"All the better," murmured Pein, sounding oddly content.

"I thought we had given up on our hunt for the demons," said Konan warily.

"Indeed we have, but Kohona doesn't know that yet, do they?" he said.

Konan frowned "How does that-?"

"Well, we will need to let them know, and you know they'll do just about anything to get us off their backs. We could even throw an alliance into the bargain."

"So you are saying," said Konan slowly "that we seal the deal?"

"Exactly"

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Violent Persuasion

**AN: sorry for the long wait, but I have been getting major writers block recently, and I wasn't happy with the first version of this chapter, so I re-wrote it. Anyway, I'm going on holiday tomorrow, so there won't be any updates for a while, but I'll try as soon as I get back!**

* * *

Sarcasm isn't an attitude, it's an ART.

* * *

Tsunade hand itched to reach out for the Sake in her desk draw. And she would've done, had Shizune not been breathing down her neck at that moment.

"Tsunade," said Shizune warningly, as she saw her hand twitch slightly.

Tsunade sent her a grumpy look and slumped down in her chair, with the air of a six year old having just been told off by their mother.

"Politics works better with alcohol," she muttered irritably.

"No, alcohol makes you forget about the paperwork that you should have done _yesterday," _rebuked Shizune, dumping a pile of paperwork in front of her "and the paperwork you should have done _today_." She proceeded to deposit a slightly larger pile on her desk.

Tsunade shot an evil glare at the paperwork, muttering mutinously "It would be so much easier if Sakura was here."

"Yes, but she's in hospital," said Shizune testily "And I don't mean to nag, but you really need to-"

She was interrupted by a sudden sound of frenetic knocking on the door, accompanied by panicked voices.

Tsunade stood up quickly as the door burst open, the four ANBU who tumbled through it not waiting for admission.

"What is the meaning of this?" she said austerely, narrowing her eyes at the audacious ANBUs in front of her "Why are you-"

"Hokage-sama- Akatsuki- in the-village," interrupted one of them, breathing in short rasps, trying to catch his breath.

"What?" she said sharply, striding over to the young ninja, who was still breathing heavily.

"Akatsuki- all of them- the gates," he said in between breaths.

Tsunade looked quickly over at Shizune, who wore a mixture of shock and panic on her face.

"Shizune, sound the alarms, then go over to the hospital and state the situation. You four-" she turned to face the ANBUs "I want you to alert all Chuunin, Jounins and the rest of the ANBU as to what is going on. Tell them to congregate at the gate."

Tsunade watched them as they disappeared, before turning to Shizune, who looked terrified. She nodded to her quickly, giving her a sign of dismissal, and watched as Shizune walked quickly out the door.

* * *

Deidara yawned, plopping himself down on a low wall and stretching his arms above his head. Kisame followed his example, but not without grumbling, "That was almost too easy. We practically just walked in. I thought you said this was hard, Konan."

Konan shot him a nasty look in answer, to which he promptly shut up.

"The alarm hasn't even gone off yet," stated Sasori contemptuously, leaning casually against the gate wall.

"This is fucking boring," muttered Hidan. "We didn't even get to kill anyone."

"We aren't here to kill anyone," hissed Pein "So when they finally show up, please try not to. That goes for all of you, especially you Deidara. If you even touch your clay without my express-"

His lecture was drowned by the sudden blare of wailing sirens that announced their discovery.

"Ah," said Konan, examining her nails "the alarms."

"About bloody time too," grumbled Kazuku.

"Do you reckon they'll be here soon, yeah?" asked Deidara "Because I'm really hungry, yeah."

"It would be you, Deidara," said Konan disdainfully, rolling her eyes.

Pein rubbed his forehead, ignoring the screams of the panicked villagers with ease. It was a sound he had grown accustomed to. Over the noises of terror, he heard a slight whooshing sound somewhere near him. Looking up lazily, he brought his hand up, catching the Kunai that had been headed straight for his forehead. Really, they would have to do better than that.

Within seconds, the Akatsuki were surrounded by a colossal amount of leaf nins, all in fighting stance with their Kunais drawn and pointing at them.

None of the Akatsukis even bothered to move, save for Deidara, who stifled yet another yawn.

"Hello, hello," muttered Konan under her breath, still examining her nails.

She had been tempted to just grab Haruno and run, and then get Deidara to blow the place to smithereens, but no, Madara and Pein had insisted they do it the old fashioned way. They _were_ meant to be turning over a new leaf, she supposed, but still, doing it Deidara's way would have been so much easier. The only problem was, they wanted Haruno to come willingly, and not try to escape, and she doubted blowing up her village and possibly killing all of her friends would put them in her good books. Well, at least they had a fail-safe back up plan.

She looked up at all the Leaf nins, who were currently shooting each other confused looks, evidently wondering why the Akatsuki, who were supposed to be attacking them with ferocity, explosive clay, cannibals and Kami knows what else, were lounging around the gate, looking frankly disinterested with the whole situation.

Suddenly the leaf nins tight formation was broken as they parted way for their Hokage, who strode through, accompanied by a horde of ANBU.

"We'll not give you Naruto!" she said fiercely, watching Pein with narrowed eyes as he strolled towards her, looking around at the Kohona ninjas bearing down upon him as if they were scenery.

"The Kyuubi?" said Pein lazily, as he reached her "Who said anything about him?"

He watched with satisfaction as he saw the momentary confusion flicker across her face, before the expression was replaced with one of mixed determination and anger.

"We'd like to propose a deal," he continued, his tone becoming more business-like.

There was an outbreak of whispering as he uttered the words. Apparently, this was not what Kohona had been expecting.

"A deal?" said Tsunade blankly, looking up at Pein.

"One that involves the Kyuubi," he continued on, in his same matter-of-fact tone.

"Absolutely not!" said Tsunade at once, flaring up again.

"You haven't even heard our proposal yet," said Pein impatiently.

"We are _not_ giving you-!"

"I haven't asked for him, nor do I want him," said Pein clearly, just so everyone could hear. "But, if you make this difficult, I _will_ take him. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, it's your choice. Either way, I will get what I want, so it makes no difference to me."

There was immediate silence at his words. Pein looked down at the Hokage, who looked angry, but slightly apprehensive as well. Good. She would finally listen to him.

"As I was saying," he continued "I would like to propose an exchange. We will leave the Kyuubi alone, give up our hunt for all the demons, and leave Kohona and all of its citizens alone, if you will hand over Haruno Sakura."

* * *

From the moment the alarms had sounded Sakura had been on high alert. She was now in full gear, and ready to fight in case of disaster. She vaguely remembered nurses coming in and trying to usher her back to bed, pleading her to stay in her room, but she had ignored them. They apparently knew what was going on, but seemed unwilling to tell her, so she would just have to find out for herself.

She sped over the rooftops, towards the gates. She remembered one of the nurses whispering something about that to another, so she would try there first. She looked down at the streets, seeing them completely devoid of people. It must be something big.

She winced in pain as she felt her stomach twinge. It still wasn't entirely healed yet, but Sakura didn't really understand why she couldn't leave the damn hospital and go home. Sakura could just finish the treatment herself. It wasn't as if it was difficult, and she was a fully qualified medic after all.

As she neared her destination, she was able to make out a large group of shinobi, all apparently grouped around a few people. Her eyes narrowing, she picked up her pace, ignoring the growing pain in her stomach.

* * *

"What?"

"Haruno Sakura."

The Hokage looked flabbergasted at his words, her mouth open in shock.

"Why Sakura?" she asked. "What has she done to you?"

"Nothing, as of yet," Pein said calmly "But why we want her is not important. I can assure you that we won't kill her, nor will we deliberately harm her in any way."

After a moment of stunned silence, she asked "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"I guarantee you it isn't," he said calmly "I have given you my terms. Will you agree?"

"And if I don't?"

Pein stared at her for a second, before turning to look pointedly at Deidara, who smirked at the Hokage and said "Yo"

"You wouldn't," she hissed, catching his plain signal.

He shrugged, saying carelessly "It wouldn't be any hardship for us. I told you, Tsunade, I will get what I came for, whichever way you choose to do things."

"You aren't leaving me with a choice," she said harshly, although Pein could hear the hidden anxiety in her tone.

"You never had one," he said bluntly. "Now, if you would be so kind as to fetch Haruno..."

* * *

**AN: please review! **


	5. Dear Readers

Dear readers,

I have to start off by apologising. I got a message from someone the other day asking about this story, and it gave me a good kick into reality. I'm not going to lie and say that my laptop broke or anything, but I am going to say that I've had a bit of a tough time over the past few months- in which I'd forgotten just how much I love writing for you guys.

I don't think I am going to be able to continue this story. However, if any of you would like to adopt it, just contact me. If someone does decide to adopt it, I'll beta it for them if they want me to.

To show that I'm sorry, I'll make an AMV (probably SakuraXAkatsuki) dedicated to you guys- once I'm done with it, I'll provide the link on profile if any of you would like to watch it. It probably won't be any good, but hey, I'll try.

There is one good thing in this, though! I haven't given up on writing Naruto fanfictions- and the next time I do a story, I promise you that I will not give up on it. I already have a few ideas that I'm toying with, but sadly none of them SasoriXSakura. I'm sorry; I just seem to have drifted from that pairing a little. Just for your information, any future stories will most likely be GaaraXSakura, DeidaraXSakura, ItachiXSakura or maybe KibaXSakura- I'm really sorry if you don't like those pairings...

Lots of love,

Lovematters

xxxxxxxxxxx


	6. Hello all!

Hello all!

I'm sorry for my utter lack of organisation- I didn't mean to keep anyone waiting! But anyhow, I come bearing good news! Someone wanted to adopt my story! Here is the link- .net/s/4865062/1/Temptation

Hugs to you all!

Lovematters

XOXOXO

P.S. I know the video's taking me ages, and when I finally have it finished, it'll still probably be crap. Anyway, I'll put the link up on my profile when it's done, for those of you that are interested!

P.P.S. If the link is going odd, like it is for me, the author who adopted the story is shadowjettailsclub, so it will be on her profile page!


End file.
